Related papers: The Second-Parameter Effect in Metal-Rich Globular…

We present new empirical estimates of the Delta V_HB_bump parameter for 15 Galactic globular clusters (GGCs) using accurate and homogeneous ground-based optical data. Together with similar evaluations available in the literature, we ended…

We present the homogeneous abundance analysis for a combined sample of 185 giants in the bulge globular cluster (GC) NGC 6388. Our results are used to describe the multiple stellar populations and differences or analogies with bulge field…

We report the presence of two distinct red giant branches (RGBs) in the globular cluster NGC 288 from the narrow-band calcium and Str\"{o}mgren b & y photometry obtained at the CTIO 4m Blanco telescope. The RGB of NGC 288 is clearly split…

We report new HST/WFPC2 photometry for 10 globular clusters (GC) in M31 observed in F5555W(V) and F814W(I). Additionally we have reanalyzed HST archival data of comparable quality for 2 more GCs. Extraordinary care is taken to account for…

The interpretation of globular cluster horizontal branch (HB) morphology is a classical problem that can significantly blur our understanding of stellar populations. In this paper, we present a new multivariate analysis connecting the…

We present high-precision multi-band photometry for the globular cluster (GC) M2. We combine the analysis of the photometric data obtained from the Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic GCs GO-13297, with chemical abundances…

In four globular clusters (GCs) a non negligible fraction of stars can be interpreted only as a very helium rich population. The evidence comes from the presence of a "blue" main sequence in $\omega$ Cen and NGC 2808, and from the the very…

Chemical tagging of globular clusters (GCs) is often done using abundances of alpha-elements. The iron-peak elements Sc, V, and in particular Zn were proposed as an alternative to alpha-elements to tag accreted GCs in the metal-rich regime,…

NGC 6441 is a bulge globular cluster with an unusual horizontal branch morphology and a rich population of RR Lyrae (RRL) and Type II Cepheid (T2C) variables that is unexpected for its relatively high metallicity. We present near-infrared…

Galactic Globular Clusters (GCs) containing bright X sources (L_x > 10^{36} erg/s), commonly associated with Low Mass X-Ray Binaries (LMXBs), are found to be significantly denser and more metal-rich than normal non-X-ray clusters both in…

We have undertaken a search for variable stars in the metal-rich globular cluster NGC 6441 using time-series BV photometry. The total number of variables found near NGC 6441 has been increased to ~104, with 48 new variables being found in…

High-resolution optical spectra of thirteen blue horizontal-branch (BHB) stars in the globular cluster M13 show enormous deviations in element abundances from the expected cluster metallicity. In the hotter stars (T_eff > 12000 K), helium…

Recent work, based on data from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters (GCs), has revealed that all the analyzed clusters host two groups of first- (1G) and second-generation (2G) stars. In most GCs,…

If NGC 6397 contains a large fraction of "second generation" stars (>70% according to recent analysis), the helium abundance of its stars might also be affected, show some star-to-star variation, and be larger than the standard Big Bang…

The outer-halo globular cluster NGC 6229 has a peculiar horizontal-branch (HB) morphology, with clear indications of a bimodal HB and a ``gap" on the blue HB. In this paper, we present extensive synthetic HB simulations to determine whether…

(ABRIDGED) The ACS camera on board the Hubble Space Telescope has been used to obtain deep images of the giant elliptical galaxy NGC 3610, a well-established dissipative galaxy merger remnant. These observations supersede previous WFPC2…

Globular cluster systems (GCS) frequently show a bi-modal distribution of the cluster integrated colours. This work explores the arguments to support the idea that the same feature is shared by the diffuse stellar population of the galaxy…

We present VI photometry of the metal-poor inner halo globular clusters NGC6293 and NGC6541 using the planetary camera of the WFPC2 on board HST. Our color-magnitude diagrams of the clusters show well-defined BHB populations, consistent…

We present new deep photometry of the globular cluster system (GCS) around NGC 6166, the central supergiant galaxy in Abell 2199. HST data from the ACS and WFC3 cameras in F475W, F814W are used to determine the spatial distribution of the…

NGC 6528 and NGC 6553 are among the most metal-rich globular clusters in the Galactic bulge. They represent the upper end of the chemical enrichment in the Galaxy, and can inform on the processes of cluster formation and enrichment. We aim…